Dr. Graciella Cruz-Taura

Areas of Expertise

Dr. Cruz-Taura specializes in the history of ideas in Latin America, with particular research interest in Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. Her most recent research has focused on Cuba's sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which led to 'Espejo de paciencia' y Silvestre de Balboa en la historia de Cuba (Madrid/Frankfurt am Main: Iberoamericana Editorial/Vervuert Verlag, 2009). The book consists of herhistoriographical study of the 1608 epic poem Espejo de paciencia, and includes her critical edition of this foundational text along with a selection of documents she uncovered in Spanish and Mexican archives. With the support of a D.F. Schmidt College Scholarly and Creative Activity Fellowship, Cruz-Taura recently completed an English-language edition of this book-length volume (forthcoming). Her current project focuses on the early sources of Cuban history.

Cruz-Taura's publications include Outside Cuba/Fuera de Cuba: Contemporary Cuban Visual Artists (co-edited 1989); "Annexation and National Identity: The Issues of Cuba's Mid-Nineteenth Century Debate," Cuban Studies (1997); "Women's Rights and the Cuban Constitution of 1940," Cuban Studies (1994); El pensamiento histórico de José Martí (Prague and Barcelona 2003); and Rehabilitating Education in Cuba: Assessment of Conditions and Policy Recommendations (2003; Spanish edition 2004). She has curated exhibits devoted to Cuban history and the Cuban diaspora. She has also contributed book chapters and translations to various scholarly works, and has presented papers at congresses of the American Historical Association, Seminar for the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials, Cuban Studies Association, Latin American Studies Association, Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, the University of Paris, and Charles University in Prague, among other academic fora.

At the undergraduate level, Dr. Cruz-Taura teaches History of Cuba, History of Mexico, Colonial Latin America, and the Independence Era, while she conducts graduate research seminars–and mentors students–on Latin American thought, Colonial Spanish America and the Caribbean. A dedicated Latin Americanist, Cruz-Taura has been recognized for her service to the South Florida community in various capacities. Since 2003 she has served on the Board of Trustees of AMIGOS of the Cuban Heritage Collection, housed at the University of Miami, which is the preeminent repository of Cuban and Cuban-diaspora materials in the United States.

Florida Atlantic University embodies a culture of strategic and collaborative community engagement that results in mutual benefit to the institution and the diverse internal and external communities that it serves.